TikTok offers new income route in SA

A South African creator can attract millions of views on TikTok without earning a cent from the platform’s Creator Rewards Programme. TikTok One now gives some of those creators another route to money, through brands rather than views.

The distinction comes amid a long-running argument over how TikTok rewards African creators. Communications and Digital Technologies minister Solly Malatsi has pressed the platform over SA’s exclusion from Creator Rewards, which pays eligible creators in supported markets based partly on qualified views and engagement with original videos.

TikTok One launched in SA last month (22 September 2026), after beginning its global rollout in 2024. The creator and brand collaboration platform connects creators, businesses and marketing agencies for sponsored content and advertising campaigns.

TikTok says more than one-billion people use the platform across 150 countries and 75 languages. The figures were highlighted at a recent event in Johannesburg, where the company announced TikTok One availability and outlined plans to expand commercial opportunities around communities already forming on the platform.

TikTok One does not pay creators simply because their videos perform well. Income comes from brands choosing to work with them or use their content in advertising.

Creators can find opportunities through TikTok Studio, while businesses can search for people whose content, audience and interests suit a campaign. Depending on the project, creators can apply for work, receive invitations or earn from videos they have already posted.

How to earn

Spark Opportunity, part of TikTok One’s Content Suite, provides one of the lowest entry points.

Creators with at least 500 followers can authorise brands to promote existing posts as Spark Ads. A video created as an ordinary TikTok post can therefore become paid advertising after publication, with the creator receiving compensation when a brand runs the authorised content.

A restaurant review, fashion video, gaming clip or piece of comedy could attract an advertiser without having been produced as sponsored content.

Creators retain control over whether brands can use their videos for advertising.

Creative Challenge is available from 1,000 followers and focuses on new content. Creators produce videos based on briefs from advertisers, with payment influenced by performance and the amount of media investment behind a campaign.

Creator Led Package provides a third route through approved creator marketing agencies, which select creators according to campaign requirements.

The follower thresholds provide access to the programmes rather than guaranteed work. Brands and individual campaigns can impose additional requirements.

“South Africa has an incredible creator community, and TikTok One gives them a direct pathway to work with local and global brands,” said Zethu Mthethwa, TikTok Sub-Saharan Africa head of sales, in a statement. “By bringing creators, brands and agencies together in one place, TikTok One can help unlock new partnerships and income streams for creators, while giving businesses more ways to tap into the creativity and influence of South Africa’s creator community.

“This is more than a platform update, it’s part of our continued commitment to South Africa’s creative economy. Through this announcement, we want local creators to continue to recognise that their talent has real value, and we’re building the tools to make sure homegrown talent gets the recognition and the income it deserves and the opportunity to participate in the country’s growing digital economy.”

Filling the gap

TikTok One adds to several earning options already available to African creators, including LIVE Gifts, Subscription and Work with Artists. None provides the same model as Creator Rewards, where eligible videos can generate payments from TikTok according to their performance.

The difference remains a source of criticism, with qualifying creators in several other markets able to receive direct rewards for successful content.

However, TikTok One depends on advertising demand. A creator may have a large or highly engaged audience, but earning through the platform requires a suitable brand opportunity.

TikTok says that model is growing internationally. Between June 2025 and May 2026, the number of creators receiving TikTok One rewards increased by 90% year on year, while monthly brand collaborations more than doubled.

Among established creators with more than 50,000 followers, the monthly value of TikTok One campaign rewards increased by 40% year on year in May 2026. TikTok One gives South African creators another income route, but access to Creator Rewards remains unresolved.